Inter Partes Review Estoppel: Don’t Sweat It Anymore

A recent Federal Circuit ruling calls into question the assumption that inter partes review necessarily narrows the issues for trial.

Many practitioners and courts have assumed that even a failed inter partes review would substantially narrow the issues for trial because, if the petitioner loses in a final decision, they may not argue any patents or printed publications in court hat they "raised or reasonably could have raised" at the Patent and Trademark Office.